The plain is crossed by meandering rivers which are dry for a large part of the year, but which flood periodically.
[3] The deposit is in Paleoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic (2500–1000 mya) metamorphosed sedimentary rocks, known as the "Soldier's Cap Group", and is overlain by approximately 60 metres (197 ft) of Cretaceous and more recent overburden.
The deposit was discovered as result of an aeromagnetic survey of the Soldiers Cap Group in the eastern Mount Isa inlier.
[1] Although sitework and underground mining began in 1997, full production was not achieved until early 1999, with 1.5 million tons of ore processed in 1999.
[8] Employment is given as about 600 people and a further 300 to 400 contractors, of which 70% of the mine workers are estimated to be fly-in fly-out (FIFO) from Townsville.